"The Galloping Gourmand" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> On Feb 21, 6:31?pm, "Gunner" <gunner@ spam.com> wrote:
>
> > Now see what is available (and reasonably eatable) in your region.
>
> I've been pulling up verdolaga every spring for years but didn't know
> how to cook it.
> My neighbor must have pulled up 20 pounds of the stuff in order to
> plant squash, and all I could tell him was that Armenians ate it, so
> it must be at least edible.
>
> Plants that I thought might be epazote turned out to be stinging
> nettle.
>
> There's another plant in my backyard that grows about five feet tall.
> It has leaves similar to a sunflower and the flowers are a tiny spray
> of white. The stems are pink or violet and there's a tap root that
> looks like a baby carrot, but it's white. That stuff grows everywhere.
>
> > It is foraging for something
> > to give color and a new taste to months and months of eating beans over
the
> > winter.
>
> Well, it's not like I can't get all the produce I want for practically
> nothing in this huge agricultural area. I just like to know what the
> Native Americans ate when they foraged off the land.
>
> The seasons are funny around here. Spring is in November or December,
> whenever we get the first rains. It rarely ever snows at this
> elevation, but I can see snow on the Sierra foothills.
>
> The valley oaks will fill out with green leaves and the snow flowers
> will blossom on the hillsides along with the orange fiddlenecks and
> that's a lovely sight.
>
> The tule fog and the high cirrus clouds keep plants from dying until
> the end of May. Then it gets up to 100 degrees everyday, and I have to
> water to keep my plants from dying.
>
Have you checked with your local Dept. of Ag. botanist to learn what you can
do to take full advantage of the piece of land you have?

Wayne